The launch of TIM Ventures aims to invest in emerging start-ups in Malaysia’s insurance technology and Islamic fintech sector.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — FWD Group Holdings Limited (FWD Group) has launched TIM Ventures, a US$10.2 million, or equal to RM45 million venture capital fund in collaboration with Artem Ventures, a Malaysia-based venture capital firm. This VC Fund will focus on investing in emerging start-ups in the insurance technology and Islamic fintech sector in Malaysia.
In response to this establishment, the Managing Director and Group Chief Operating Officer of FWD, Sim Preston, conveyed, “By launching TIM Ventures, we intend to bolster early-stage entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Therefore, we will provide them financing access and help to connect them with the networks and expertise they need to succeed,”
Preston also looks forward to increasing investment activity in several businesses with a comparable mission to the company, namely elevating people’s knowledge of Takaful, a sharia-based insurance paradigm.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are essential elements of the economic enhancement in Malaysia, contributing to more than a third of the gross domestic product and granting job opportunities to over four million workers in Malaysia.
Binayak Dutta, FWD Managing Director, Emerging Markets and Group Chief Distribution Officer, said, “The launch of this fund, together with our pre-accelerator program, FWD Start-Up Studio signifies our continued support to the Malaysian market and the role we want to play in closing the takaful protection gap. This initiative allows us to partner with exciting emerging talent and develops innovative new technologies to achieve a brighter, digital future.”
The fund has already invested in four start-ups, including winners from the FWD Start-Up Studio, a pre-accelerator program launched in 2021, to become a leading innovation hub in Malaysia. The companies are Senang, an on-demand subscription-based insurance company; Pewarisan, an online platform providing digital solutions for Islamic inheritance planning; Du-It, a Malaysia-based fintech company; and Blueduck, a zero-deposit insurance agency.
Welcoming this venture capital fund, the CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Mahadhir Aziz, stated, “We welcome the establishment of this venture capital fund to support the growth of Malaysia’s SMEs operating in these sectors. We will strive to ensure further effective collaborations are formed, to support this growing technology ecosystem in line with our new national strategic initiative, Malaysia Digital (MD). We mainly focus on the innovative Islamic fintech segment, where Malaysia has been a global leader for eight consecutive years,”
